Despite his 30 years’ experience in breeding and trading in many types of ornamental fish, not until did he start trading in Koi fish in a professional manner in 2016 that Da Nang native Phan Cong Cau earned lots of money from the national fish of Japan. He eagerly revealed that he earns an annual income of 300 million VND. 

A Koi fish farm owned by Cau in Hoa Vang District

Cau’s ornamental fish store located on Highway 14B, Phu Son 3 Village, Hoa Khuong Commune, Hoa Vang District, is always crowded with buyers. His store supplies approximately 10,000 Koi fish each year to customers throughout the central and Central-Highlands regions.

Fully awareness of the fact that raising Koi fish has become the latest trend for the wealthy elite, Cau risked everything to grow his start-up business with this expensive type of fish. The strong-willed man spent much his time learning how to breed Koi fish effectively.

“To ensure big, gorgeous, and aged Koi fish, feed sources and the living habitat are amongst the decisive factors, along with the ideal ponds which meet the strict regulations”, said Cau.

According to Cau, many agree that the path to rearing Koi fish en masse has both opportunity and challenge. Besides the arduous import route, every single Koi fish must be thoroughly examined to receive the green light for sale. That is not to mention the species is pretty fragile, and one single change in the environment is all it needs to kill this creature.

Koi, known as nishikigoi literally “brocaded carp” in Japanese, are coloured varieties of Amur carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi varieties are distinguished by coloration, patterning, and scalation. Some of the major colours are white, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, and cream.

To many, Koi fish are simply colored carp from Japan weighing 20 - 25kg, but to those in-the-know, Koi fish are a symbol of fortune and courage prized by wealthy hobbyists who determine each fish’s value based on its color, pattern, and brightness.

Nguyen Ngoc Xao, residing in Phu Son 2 Village, Hoa Khuong Commune, is now one of the fish farmers who have been cooperating with Cau to breed Koi and other types of fish in their 1.5ha farm.
A well-developed Koi fish needs 2-3m3 of water in which such other types of fish as carps and dories can live well.

In reality, Koi fish eat just about anything, from small bugs and insects, to plants and algae at the bottom of the fish pond, to store-bought koi fish food, so they can take advantage of the food source of the other fish.

After subtracting production costs, the 2 men can earn an average 60 - 80 million VND per year from this fish raising method.

In order to increase buyer numbers, Cau has set up social networking sites such as Facebook and Zalo to publicise his raised Koi fish.

In 2016, Cau only cooperated with many families in the city to raise a total of about 1,000 Koi fish, but to date, the figure has risen tenfold. 

Mr Tran Van Muoi, the Chairman of Hoa Khuong Commune's Farmers Association highly appreciated Cau’s Koi fish farming model for its greatly economic benefits. Successfully raising Koi has helped Cau’s family escape poverty and make their fortune.

By MAI QUE- Translated by ANH THU